


Smoke and Mirrors

by thekeyholder



Category: Muse
Genre: Alternate Universe, Comedy, Ghosts, Horror, M/M, Prompt Fill, Revenge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-07
Updated: 2014-11-07
Packaged: 2018-02-24 12:38:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2581697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thekeyholder/pseuds/thekeyholder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Matt is murdered and meets ghost!Dom in the afterlife. Matt wants to haunt his killer and Dom tries to teach him how to haunt properly but they both end up just being utterly terrible at it and embarrassing themselves and generally staining the reputation of all haunting ghosts. Chris is a badass take-no-prisoners ghost hunter who is employed to rid Matt's murderer of the two idiots chasing him around levitating cups and going, "OOoooOOOOOooooooooOOOO!"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Smoke and Mirrors

**Author's Note:**

> All right, I have a few things to say about my first mshorrorfest story. First of all, you must know that this chapter was supposed to be longer, but uni just kills me. Even this small part was written during nights when I was dead-tired, so I apologise if it's not that good. Secondly, even though most of this story is planned, I have no idea how many parts there are going to be or when I am going to finish it. Sorry. :( Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy it!!! 
> 
> Warning: this chapter will end, as the summary promises, with death.

Blue eyes moved quickly from left to right, then left to right again and so on, with great concentration, rarely interrupted by blinking. They widened until the weight of what they were reading made the eyebrows push back down, darkening the colour of those attentive eyes. There was some kind of change in the background, perhaps a name being called, perhaps even his, but his eyes just roved over the same lines again and again, crinkling at the corner.   
  
“Matthew? Matthew, are you listening to me?”   
  
He finally registered that, indeed, it was his name being called. He quickly  minimised the window on his computer and spun in his chair.   
  
“Sorry, I was just really focused on something.”   
  
“Yes, I can see that,” his colleague replied with a half-worried, half-indulgent smile. “Anyway, the boss wants to talk to you.”   
  
“All right, I’ll be there in a couple of minutes. I just need to save some files,” he replied, his voice fading away as he returned to his computer screen.   
  
He looked around carefully before saving the document and then pocketing the pendrive that contained it. Matthew straightened his tie and made sure that he looked presentable before going over to his boss’s office. He knocked and slipped in only his head, hoping that his boss didn’t have time to talk and would tell him to return later. He was so busy, he had so many things to read, eager to find out the whole truth.   
  
“Ah, Matthew. Come in, we need to discuss something.”   
  
He then entered the room fully, sighing a bit as he turned his back to close the door. He could feel going mad if he didn’t return to his computer in ten minutes.   
  
“Look, Diana, I have tons of work. If it’s about that interview with Mr. Fisher, I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to do it.”   
  
Matthew fidgeted under Diana’s calm stare; he knew he shouldn’t yet be telling this to anyone, but he just couldn’t contain so much secrecy anymore.   
  
“Dee, I came across something huge. It’s enormous. Story of the year, really.”   
  
Matthew’s boss leaned forward with clear interest. After all these years, she knew her best journalist would never talk big without reason. “What is it?”   
  
“Well, I think, I haven’t read all the documents yet, but I think that uh… the mayor, yes, he’s stealing the funds that were supposed to go to rehabilitating old, historical buildings.”   
  
“What?”   
  
Matthew looked up just for a moment to see the astonishment on Diana’s face.   
  
“Matthew, are you sure? You know we can’t go into this battle without enough proof. They’ll terminate us.”   
  
“Of course, Dee, I know this is deadly serious. However, I think that I have everything I need, I’d just like to ask you to let me concentrate solely on this project and I promise that the news will explode. The less I am burdened with other tasks, the sooner I finish reading the documents and exposing the whole charade.”   
  
“How is he stealing the money anyway?”   
  
“Some kind of scheme with transferring money from one account to  another until it can’t be traced anymore. I’ll have to look into it more carefully.”   
  
Diana sighed as she played with her Libra pendant. She looked at Matthew thoughtfully, asking him further questions:   
  
“How did you  get your hands on them? Was it even legal?”   
  
Matthew smiled tiredly. “Hmm, well, I wouldn’t say it was illegal. It’s their fault if they didn’t hide the files well enough.”    
  
The boss didn’t exactly look happy, but she knew that sometimes getting to the truth involved stepping on a dangerous path.   
  
“I hope you deleted your traces, at least. Where are the files? Does anyone else know about this?”   
  
Matthew took out the pendrive from his pocket. “Here. Haven’t told a soul about it.”   
  
Diana nodded approvingly, still fiddling with her pendant. “Good. Keep it  a secret until you are done, and I promise I won’t bother you with other things for a few days, so try to finish it. And show it to me as soon as you have the material, yeah?”   
  
“Of course, Dee. Thank you very much, I knew you’d understand!”   
  
He jumped up from the seat, impatient to get back to his desk and find out more dirty details of the mayor’s theft. Just before he exited, Diana called him back:   
  
“Matthew, did you store the files only on that pendrive? Nothing else?”   
  
“Nothing else.”   
  
“Good. Keep it on yourself at all times.”

* * * * *

  
Matthew parked the car in front of his house, watching the dark leaves as they swayed with the black branches. His eyes burnt with exhaustion, his brain rattled with names and numbers, but he had to work late into the night, or more like early hours of the morning. He got out and entered the house quickly, not even bothering to have a look at the quiet street. There wasn’t much to see anyway; the streetlamps were just weak spots of light.   
  
The journalist tossed his keys into a bowl, took off his shoes and had a glass of water before entering his study. Matthew turned on the lights and took off his wristwatch while he waited for his laptop to boot up. He didn’t have many documents left to read and then he could start working on his article. As it turned out, the mayor wasn’t the only one implied. A lot of important figures would fall when the material was published.   
  
Suddenly, there was a slight pain on the left side of his neck, but by the time Matthew’s busy mind registered it, it was gone. However, the unpleasant sensation was followed by a terrifying sound, something he only heard in films before: the cocking of a gun. Matthew froze, but the owner of the gun turned him in his chair to be face to face.   
  
Matthew wanted to scream, but his mouth just wouldn’t open. He tried to stand up, to lift his hand, to move, but it didn’t work. He was completely  paralysed . His face heated and his back sweated, his heart thumping agitatedly inside his ribcage. The man in front of him grinned, his scarred lip stretching in an ugly manner as his green eyes looked over Matthew. It was unnerving, the way he gesticulated with the gun in his hand.   
  
“My, that worked fast. Sorry, buddy, but I had to give you a shot of Sux - don’t worry, it won’t last long.”   
  
Matthew made a strangled sound, but his tongue simply refused to form proper words. He looked at the man’s face, but he didn’t  recognise him. His brain reeled, and he came to the awful conclusion that since his attacker didn’t conceal his face… didn’t bother concealing it… that could only mean one thing: he’d kill Matthew. A tear escaped from his left eye.   
  
“It’s too late to cry about this, Bellamy. You shouldn’t have stuck your nose in other people’s business,” the attacker sneered as he pocketed the pendrive. “All right, let’s get over this.”   
  
He placed the gun to Matthew’s temple, but something caught his attention.   
  
“Oh, look at this. What a beautiful piece!”   
  
Matthew watched in horror as the man lifted his wristwatch from the desk, and after a brief assessment, he put it on. It made Matthew so angry, but he couldn’t do anything.   
  
“Well, you won’t need it anymore, will you?” he laughed evilly.   
  
Matthew closed his eyes, tears streaming down his face as the cold metal of the barrel was pushed against his temple for the second time. Everything went dark.


End file.
